Bullies, Bruises and Best Friends
by Millennium Keyboard
Summary: Ryou is feeling alone after Bakura's departure and is ridiculed for being weak. Bullied by his colleagues at school and abandoned by his father, Ryou turns desperately to his only friend for guidance. Fluff and Friendshi, eventual Angstshipping/Lemons.


"Oof - Ouch, oh s-sorry, excuse me!"The apologies and grunts of a tanned Egyptian boy rang out as he stumbled through a large crowd of people, his sand-golden hair bouncing upon his head as if it had a mind of its own. His own determination and confusion caused him to bump into several people as me manoeuvred himself around them. What a crowd! Marik thought gleefully as he slid through two oncoming people. Good for -some- people, but presumably not good for himself. Marik ducked below a tall mans elbows to realise he had reached the front of the crowd. It was yet another school fight, and it didn't look very good from here. A rather tall boy was semi-kneeling on the floor, gripping a smaller boys white hair and yanking his upper body back against his knee. The whitette was crying out in pain, and at this close a distance Marik could see the blood on his face and on the uncovered parts of his arms where his jacket sleeves had rolled back up - several parts of the jacket had been torn open by sharp stones. The taller boys friends had gathered closest to the action, egging him on as he clicked the whitettes shoulders back sharply. The boy cried out in pain, a small tendril of blood dripping from his mouth. The taller boy released his grip on the boys shoulders and stood up, sending a kick to the boys back and causing him to fall to the ground. A cheer erupted from the taller boys friends and the taller boy flexed his muscles, joining in the taunting laughter. The whitette sat up and tried to stand back up but the tall boy kicked him to the dust again, causing yet more laughter among the onlookers.

This had gone far enough. Marik pushed himself out of the crowd and into the small circle where the fight was, facing the tall boy with knuckles on his hips. The tall boy turned to face him, a cruel grin on his face. Marik returned the glare with an angry one of his own, eyebrows furrowed down and his mouth curled into a frown of anger.

"What are you doing, Mosquito?" He snapped, quickly glancing to the motionless whitette and back to the taller boy. Mosquito shrugged his shoulders.

"Knockin' some sense into this little twat," He replied, causing his friends to go into peals of laughter, "Whats it to you, blondie?"

"A lot," Marik growled, and before Mosquito could react, Marik stepped sideways, swinging his right leg around and sending a kick into Mosquito's stomach, causing him to become winded. Mosquito fell to his knees in agony, his friends coming forward cautiously to help him get up. Marik growled at them angrily and they immediately backed off, seeing Marik pull out a long golden object out from behind his back. Its head was carved into that of an axes' shape and in scripted on the centre of it was a carved eye shape. Marik drew the covering off of one end to reveal a pointed edge, similar to that of a dagger. As he did this the tatoo's under his eyes seemed to grow in size, and his usually pale eyes seemed to darken in his anger.

"Marik." Upon hearing the boys voice, Marik stopped, and his usual features returned. Looking down, he slid the hilt back on and pushed the weapon back into his belt. Mosquito had been watching in both awe and fear, his friends now daring to come forward and help him. Marik took the opportunity to lean over and lift the whitette to his feet, slinging his arm around his shoulder to help him balance.

"Touch him again, and I'll knock your teeth out!" He called back as he semi-carried the boy inside the school. The bathroom wasn't too far, luckily - for some odd reason toilets often seemed to be located near outdoor areas. Marik leant heavily on the bathroom door and walked in backwards, dragging the boy along the ground slightly. There weren't any chairs in the bathroom so Marik had to make amends and sat the boy on the ground as gently as he could while he ran the hot tap. He didn't have a cloth or anything so he had to use a large wad of toilet paper to get it wet enough to wash away the blood without tearing. The water was getting boiling hot under his fingers and Marik winced as they burnt him, turning off the tap quick.

Marik knelt down beside the boy, patting his face with the wet and warm toilet paper. The boy didn't react, looking tired out and definitely in a bad way. As far as Marik could see, he was covered in bruises and blood, but there could also be internal injuries as well.

"What was it about -this- time, Ryou?" Marik asked, rolling his eyes as he pulled the bloodied tissue away from Ryous arm. Ryou shook his head a little, his eyes scrunched a little and looking thoroughly upset.

"They were making fun of my father again," He replied, curling his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. Marik raised an eyebrow at that - as far as he knew, Ryou's father was living back in England working under archaeological studies.

"Your father?" He asked, curious to know what they had said about his father that could get him this upset. Ryou was a very sensitive person, he knew, but what could they have possibly said that could get Ryou to bite back and end up in this state?"They said his job was crap and no wonder I don't live with him." Ryou's mouth quivered slightly and some tears began to form slightly at the edge of his eyes, which Marik quickly dabbed off with a clean part of the tissue.

"Don't get so upset about it, they're just jealous that your father has a respectable job while their fathers are stuck in offices and such," He said gently, standing up and throwing the tissue in the bin. Ryou nodded, looking rather worried.

"You shouldn't have butted into the fight, Marik," He stammered, putting his hands on each side of him and softly pushing himself up and onto his feet, "They'll call teachers on you for attacking him-""Ryou, they beat you up themselves, why would they do that?" Marik interrupted, frowning and running a tanned hand through his fringe. Ryous mouth was slowly closing from where he had been in the middle of speaking, before shaking his head a little.

"But they saw the Millennium Rod, Marik," He said quietly, "That'll get their attention. They'll tell the teachers you've brought a weapon into school and threatened people with it.""I couldn't really care less what 'lies' they make up - that's what the teacher will think they are," Marik shrugged, "I've only been in this school a month and I think I've seen you be beaten up every single day - save for the weekends. It's a pain to have to stand by and watch, Ryou, that's why im taking control of them. Stick by me from now on, and they'll leave you alone."Ryou smiled a little, dropping his hand from examining a bruise on his jawbone, "Thank you, Marik."

"No problem," Marik replied, patting Ryous shoulder, "We should go back out now - They'll have cleared off, or they will if the see me again."

Ryou nodded and followed Marik through the bathroom door, walking by his side down the long corridor. It was decorated with Christmas decorations and there were several glass cabinets of trophies and certificates and other school awards. It felt very festive just walking down it - only two weeks until Christmas, Ryou couldn't wait!

"Very Christmassy, isnt it?" Marik commented, raising an eyebrow slightly at all of the décor. Ryou nodded in agreement, beaming lightly.

"Yes, I cant wait until Christmas - I really enjoy its festivity!" He laughed as they neared the swing doors to the playground, slipping his gloves back on. His jacket was torn all over the arms but Ryou didn't mind it - he could always get a new one. He rolled the cuffs of the jacket back over his gloves and pulled his Peruvian hat back over his fluffy white fringe. Marik nodded, flicking his earmuffs out and pulling them on, stretched over his golden hair. As they passed through the swing doors it became obvious no one wanted to hang near them for long - several people running off into the distance. Ryou noticed this and was about to inform Marik when he noticed that Marik seemed to be ignoring them completely, and so Ryou followed suit and soon forgot about them. The ground was a little frosty on the grass by the old tree stump where they usually sat and so their boots crunched loudly as they made their way there. They had finished their lunch earlier that period and sat and discussed the upcoming Christmas events.

"So who are you spending Christmas with, Marik?" Ryou asked as he turned to look at his friend. Marik shrugged.

"I suppose I'll be with Ishizu and Rishid again, though they seem too serious about it and theres not enough time to actually have a joke about." Marik flicked his fringe out of his eyes and peering at Ryou, "Who are you spending Christmas with? Is your father coming over?"

Ryou shook his head somewhat sadly, "No, I'm on my own. My father is having a Christmas party with some work colleagues and I haven't been invited over, on account of what happened those years back," he admitted. Marik patted Ryous shoulder, causing some fast growing frost to flake off.

"Don't worry, why don't you come and celebrate with us?" He asked, "It would be nice to have a guest for once. Just wait until you try Ishizu's cooking - its amazing, and I've been experiencing it for a long time!""Thanks, Marik, I'd like that," Ryou replied quietly, giving a small smile.


End file.
